Rescue Princesses #6: The Magic Rings (6 page)

The three princesses climbed inside the van and untied the horses one by one. Then they led them carefully out and around the corner of the lane. Lottie guided Twinkle, talking soothingly to her and stroking her velvety coat. Twinkle stopped shivering and nibbled at Lottie’s hair.

“The problem is that they’ll know something’s wrong as soon as they drive away,” said Amina worriedly. “The van won’t feel as heavy as it should.”

Lottie bit her lip. “We need to put something heavy inside.” She looked around and noticed some large rocks lying in the moonlit stream.

“I’ll get those stones! They’ll make it feel heavier.” She quickly climbed down the bank and pulled one large rock out of the stream. She passed it up to Amina, who loaded it into the van.

She grabbed another rock. Her feet were wet and her hands were freezing, but she didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was rescuing the horses.

Together, the girls loaded five large rocks into the van. Then they shut the door and rushed back around the corner to the horses just as Lady Slyden returned.

“Hurry up, you fool!” Lady Slyden told the man. “We don’t know who else is out here. Do you
want
to be caught?”

The two figures dived into the van and drove away at top speed.

A shadow slipped along the lane and Rosalind appeared in front of them, grinning.

“They couldn’t figure out what the noise was and then they got spooked,” she said.

One of the horses let out a loud chuckling whinny, sending the girls into fits of laughter.

Lottie and Twinkle led the group of princesses and horses up the lane and through the fields. When she reached her own paddock, Twinkle galloped around, swishing her tail.

“You’re happy to be home, aren’t you, Twinkle?” laughed Lottie.

They were met at the stable by Peter, who was waving a flashlight around and looking frantic.

“What happened?” he asked. “I came down here to check on the horses and some of them were missing.”

“Lady Slyden tried to steal them,” said Lottie. “Even poor Twinkle.”

Peter pointed his flashlight at the animals. “She chose all the young racehorses,” he said angrily. “She probably wanted to sell them to make lots of money.”

“I remember Queen Sofia saying that Twinkle might be a racehorse, too, one day,” said Isabella.

“I can see why.” Lottie grinned as Twinkle galloped past with her mane flying.

Peter began settling the horses back into their stalls. Lottie managed to catch Twinkle and lead her back. Twinkle’s mother whinnied and nuzzled her little foal, and then they snuggled down
together on the hay. Twinkle closed her eyes and laid her head down. The white star on her forehead gleamed in the moonlight.

“I’m so glad you’re safe again after such a scary night,” Lottie told the little foal.

She stroked her soft ears one more time and then shut the stall door.

“I’ll just get the horses some extra feed,” said Peter, hurrying out of the stables.

Lottie noticed that the other princesses were all helping with the horses, too. Rosalind was smiling widely, Amina had stopped looking nervous, and Isabella hadn’t tripped over anything. Something wonderful had happened to them all, ever since their rings had glowed.

Lottie looked down at her glistening ruby.
Jewels with special powers
, Emily had called them. She pressed the red
stone and it blazed with light. “Calling all Rescue Princesses!” she whispered into it.

The jewels on the other girls’ rings lit up, too. The sapphire, the emerald, and the yellow topaz all glowed brightly.

“Wow!” cried Amina.

The princesses crowded together to look at one another’s glowing rings.

“Your voice sounded really clear just now,” said Rosalind. “And it came right out of my ring.”

“Mine, too,” said Isabella.

“They’re working perfectly,” said Lottie, grinning. “We pulled off a great rescue tonight. It’s almost as if these rings made us magical, too.”

“I don’t think our rescue was magic,” said Isabella. “I think it was teamwork. Maybe the rings couldn’t work the right way until
we
started working together.”

Lottie smiled at her. “Maybe you’re right!”

The sky began to lighten as the sun rose.

Peter came back in with a wheelbarrow full of hay. He stopped and looked at the princesses. “I just noticed how funny you all look,” he said. “What are you wearing?”

“These are our black dancing dresses,” Rosalind told him. “Very handy for sneaking across the palace garden at night!”

Peter looked a little confused. “I guess wearing black does camouflage you in the dark.”

“Exactly!” said Isabella. “And now we’d better go. The grown-ups will wake up soon.”

“Thanks for bringing the horses back to me,” said Peter. “You’re not really ordinary princesses, are you?”

“Not really!” laughed Lottie.

The princesses grinned at him. Then they linked their arms together and hurried back across the field toward the palace.

Ally brought the princesses a delicious breakfast of warm rolls and honey, with tall glasses of strawberry milk. The girls sat at a table in Lottie’s room and gobbled down their food. All the excitement and ninja moves of the night before had made them extremely hungry.

“Is it the last performance of the Dance Festival today?” asked Isabella, helping herself to another roll.

“Yes it is! And we still need to figure out our costumes,” said Amina.

Rosalind brushed the crumbs off her hands and rummaged through the pile of dance dresses on Lottie’s bed. She grinned at the others. “How about this?” She pulled a lime-green leotard out of the pile and held it up to show them.

“No way!” laughed Isabella. “That reminds me of Queen Sofia’s hat.”

Finally they agreed on golden dance dresses with black jazz shoes. After breakfast, they changed into the costumes and brushed their hair. Then they walked downstairs to the hall, where the final performance would take place.

Rows of chairs had been set up for the audience. The seats were already filling up with kings, queens, and other royalty. Everyone had put on their most splendid
robes and dresses, and crowns and tiaras sparkled everywhere.

The princesses paused in the doorway, suddenly nervous about all the pairs of eyes that would be watching their dance routine.

“Queen Sofia?” A king in a blue turban bowed low. “Would you like me to find Lady Slyden and tell her we’re ready to begin? She seems to be missing again.”

Queen Sofia turned around, her lime-green hat quivering. “There’s no need,” she said firmly. “I found out some shocking news from my stableboy this morning. Lady Slyden has been unkind to the horses I lent her, and last night she tried to steal some of them. I’ve sent her a message telling her never to return to my palace, and she’s lucky that I haven’t had her arrested. How dare she behave so cruelly to my animals?”

The princesses beamed at one another.

“Peter must have told Queen Sofia all about Lady Slyden,” whispered Lottie. “Good for him!”

“Good morning, princesses!” boomed Queen Sofia, seeing them standing together. “I’d like you to begin the grand performance. What kind of dance have you chosen?”

“Hip-hop,” chorused the princesses.

“Hip-hop?” repeated Queen Sofia. “Excellent! I am quite in the mood for a little boogie.”

Hiding their giggles, the princesses took up their starting positions. The hall fell silent. Then the beat of the song began. The princesses remembered all their dance moves perfectly. At the end, the audience clapped and cheered, and the girls dropped graceful curtsies.

Their act was followed by tap dances, ballet dances, and the princes’ hornpipe. After the grand performance had finished, Lottie looked over at the door in the corner that led into the garden. She beckoned to the others and, while the grown-ups were still chatting, they slipped out of the door and raced across the lawn.

Lottie reached the gate first and climbed over it into the field.

“I wonder if the horses are tired after their adventure last night,” said Amina.

Just then, Twinkle came trotting out of the stable. She whinnied excitedly when she saw them and galloped around and around in circles.

“Stop, Twinkle! You’re making me dizzy,” laughed Rosalind.

Twinkle stopped galloping and nibbled Lottie’s hair.

“I think Twinkle’s trying to say thank you,” said Amina.

“You’re welcome, Twinkle.” Lottie rubbed the little foal’s velvety nose. “Now I can’t wait for our next rescue!”

“And we could find out more about the lost
Book of Ninja
that Ally talked about,” suggested Rosalind.

“Whatever we do, we’ll do it together.” Isabella held out her hand with its special ring.

“Together!” said the others, putting their hands on top of hers.

The jewels in their rings lit up for a moment, making the girls catch their breath.

Twinkle whinnied and lifted up her front leg, too.

“You’re joining in, Twinkle!” Lottie hugged her. “You really are the best foal in the world!”